We were considering heading South to the Grand Canyon or North to Montana for this year's Fun Anniversary Trip (FAT 2016). The North won out this year. So we packed and headed North. We left SacTown at 10:30 AM and drove until it was dark and called the nearest hotel for rates. We were blessed with a room for $85 a night that can accommodate all of us....
We are on vacation and there is no sleeping curfew.
At around 9:30 PM: Pretty comfy for six.
Monday, 26 JUL 2016 - Montana, here we come.
We proceeded across into Mountain Time Zone in Idaho and loss an hour :-( However, we made many stops by the usual tourist places to enjoy the view and rest. This time I noticed that fly fishing is big time in Idaho as well. We even came into a Walmart with its own Fly Shop: amazing!
Stopped by this vista point for lunch.
We needed a break from driving.
Rest area had no shaded areas, probably 90 degrees....
Emigrant Trails
Oregon Trail passing through Idaho.
Now, I've visited all the Walmarts :-)
Crazy, right?
This Walmart is located in Idaho.
Locally tied flies?!?
We made it to Montana by 7 PM.
Tuesday, 27 JUL 2016 - Scouting.
We decided to do the local scenes and visited as many places as possible. It appeared as if everyone in Montana knows how to use a drift boat and fly fishes; at every corner, there is a fishing access sign; and, all the parks in Montana are named Sacajawea Park :-)
Lots of drift boats at this location.
Sacajawea statue in Sacajawea Park.
Cool East meets West mural.
The original in & out burger....
Back in time prices...
Having a picnic.
Peace.
The art of sleeping ;-)
Preparation for Radiological Tech?
Rail road museum.
All aboard!
Got a chance to visit Big Sky.
Got useful maps here.
We should have signs like this in Cali....
Wednesday, 27 JUL 2016 - A River Runs Through It.
The night before I had purchased a 2-day fishing license to fish in Montana.
Super duper blessed to be able to fish at Yellowstone River in Livingston, MT, where the movie "A River Runs Through It" was filmed. This is the home of fly fishing legend, Dan Bailey. I walked through his shop and looked at all the neat fly fishing stuff. Although I am not a fly fisherman, I truly appreciate the art of fly fishing and those who have fallen in love with it. One day, I may pick up fly fishing myself....
I walked inside Dan Bailey's fly shop!
For now, I am just happy to be using the Z! By the way, the Z-Ray is back!!! It is made by Zona Lures. Here is the website: http://www.zraylures.com/
I woke up super early to get to the fishing hole and got there at 4:50 AM. I do not like to fish unless I can see with my naked eyes, which indicate to me that it is legal fishing time of one hour before sunrise. At this location, according to the Internet, sunrise was to be at 6:03 AM. I believe it was more like 7 AM because I couldn't see anything until around 6 AM and that was when I headed towards the river to fish.
It was my third cast, and I hit a small trout! It did all kinds of acrobatics, laughed at me, and shook off the hook while airborne. It felt pretty heavy for a small trout! Then I proceeded a little farther down stream after every few casts. Another ten minutes later, I hit something big because my drag screamed: "Zip, zip...." Just as quick, the fish let go. Before the half hour of fishing was up, I hit another fish and this time I managed to land it! Let's just say that I should have purchased a bigger landing net :-) I put together a video for your enjoyment:
I was back to the hotel before Mrs. Miracles and the children knew that I was missing. I woke them up and we all went down for the provided breakfast.
Yummy to the tummy.
More fun....
Lots of small towns....
Another Sacajawea Park.
More fishing access.
Swimming pool to ourselves.
Thursday, 28 JUL 2016 - Heading back to Cali.
Since I purchased a 2-day fishing license, I wanted to fish the Gallatin River running through Big Sky, Montana, on the way back to Cali. It was not meant to be. I followed my GPS which took me home by another route. Thus I got to witness the beauty of the Madison River along Montana highway 287. What awesome sights!!! I followed one of the fishing access sign and was taken to what I had thought to be a remote area. Was I wrong. By the time I got to the Madison River, there were about 50 vehicles with boat trailers parked.... Wow!!! This meant that there would be a lot of drift boats stopping by sometime during the day. One person owning a private business to pick up boats told me that she and her husband shuttled about 60 to 80 drift boats a day!!!
More fishing access.
Looks the same, but different fishing location.
Look at all the drift boat trailers.
Same parking lot with more drift boat trailers.
Madison River.
On the way out of the hotel, we ran into a bunch of classic cars. What a trip!
Very cool looking car.
Must be a car show....
Here's a summary picture of what Mrs. Miracles (my lovely, awesome, fantastic wife of 27 years) thinks of Montana, Big Sky Country.
Two thumbs way up!
We eventually made it back to the North side of Nevada for the night. We stayed at the same place on Sunday night, in the same room, for the same price: double blessings!
Friday, 29 JUL 2016 - Concluding Fun Anniversary Trip 2016.
We made it back home safely around 10 PM. Thanks be to God.
Montana is definitely a fun place to visit, especially for fly fishermen. Its small towns, clean air, mountainous terrains, and waterways are fabulous! There is NO SALES TAX in Montana!!!
I had a chance to visit lots of fishing outlets along the way to Montana and back. I did make a few purchases too ;-)
JU was here :-)
Couldn't pass up some of these things....
Finally, FAT can't be completed without a trip down memory lane.
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